Atlanta water usage dispute lands in federal court today
Alabama and Florida want a say in whether the city should be allowed to pump more water from the Chattahoochee River, which all three share.
By Associated Press
Published January 20, 2004
A dispute over water usage from Lake Lanier in Georgia will go before federal court today, with Florida and Alabama arguing that Atlanta's attempts to use more water would choke off the states downstream.
In a hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson will consider whether a deal to give metro Atlanta more water from Lake Lanier is valid. His decision could come within days.
At the center of the case is a contract signed last year by metro Atlanta governments and the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns and operates Buford Dam at the lake.
The contract ensures that the metro region will be able to withdraw enough water from the lake and the Chattahoochee River to take care of at least an additional million people.
In exchange, local governments agreed to pay $2.5-million a year to help maintain the dam. That's a pittance compared with the true value of the water, but it is enough to satisfy federal hydropower customers who pay most of the dam's costs.
They sued the corps in 2000 for forcing them to buy electricity elsewhere when water levels at Lake Lanier were low.
Alabama and Florida object to the contract. They want a say in whether metro Atlanta can pull more water out of the river they share.
Florida argues that the oysters grown in Apalachicola Bay would be harmed because less fresh water would reach them.
Alabama argues that every downstream use, from hydropower to barge traffic, would be diminished if metro Atlanta were to pull more water out of Lake Lanier and the upper Chattahoochee.
Georgia argues that, even if metro Atlanta uses the maximum amount of water, the effect downstream would be negligible.
Harold Melton, Gov. Sonny Perdue's top legal adviser, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that if Georgia and metro Atlanta prevail, "it gives us the green light to go ahead, with the emphasis on planning."
The states also are battling over water sharing in federal courts in Gainesville, Ga., and Birmingham.
